Oct. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Republican nominee Mitt Romney has
pulled even with President Barack Obama among women voters in a
survey that shows the former Massachusetts governor leading by
four points in 12 swing states.

The USA Today/Gallup poll gave Romney a 50 percent to 46
percent lead among likely voters in the 12 swing states. Romney
led 54 percent to 42 percent among men likely to go to the polls
and was tied at 48 percent among likely women voters in states
that strategists in both parties say will decide who wins the
White House on Nov. 6. Both candidates are focusing on the
battleground states during the final weeks of the campaign.

The findings mirrored a Pew Research Center survey taken
Oct. 4-7, which found a tie between Obama and Romney among
likely women voters as it put the Republican nominee ahead
overall, 49 percent to 45 percent.

Obama’s pollster, Joel Benenson, questioned today’s USA
Today/Gallup survey. The campaign released a memo from Benenson
that called it “an extreme outlier, defying the trends in every
other battleground and national poll.”

Benenson said the result “underscores deep flaws” in the
way Gallup identifies likely voters. He said the poll “appears
to not even provide an accurate reflection on the electorate
today, making its value questionable.”

Frank Newport, editor-in-chief of the Gallup poll, said
such comments are to be expected.

Polarized Environment

“In our highly polarized environment, both campaigns have
a war-room mentality where they move extremely rapidly to
criticize anything that’s not favorable,” Newport said. “We
try to do our very best to be scientific and neutral, which we
are, but we expect that people will come at you. That’s the
nature of the game.”

The poll of 869 likely voters in Colorado, Florida, Iowa,
Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina,
Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin was conducted Oct. 5-11 and had margins of error from plus or minus four to six
percentage points.

Obama’s appeal to women voters has been predicated in part
on the candidates’ positions on social issues.

Romney has called for eliminating federal funding for
Planned Parenthood. Three percent of its patient visits in 2010
were abortion related, and health-related issues accounted for
63 percent. His running mate, Representative Paul Ryan of
Wisconsin, has voted to cut off federal contraceptive funding
for low-income women and co-sponsored legislation to limit
federal funds for abortions to victims of “forcible rape.”

Republicans say the economy, not social issues, will decide
the presidential election.

ABC News/Post Poll

A national ABC News/Washington Post poll released today had
Obama ahead among likely voters, 49 percent to 46 percent,
showing the race remained unchanged since before the first
debate between the two candidates.

Obama had a 49 percent to 47 percent advantage in an
ABC/Post poll conducted Sept. 26-29, before the first debate on
Oct. 3 in Denver. The two men meet again tomorrow night in
Hempstead, New York.

Other surveys have shown Romney narrowing his deficit or
leading Obama since the initial debate. The Oct. 8-14 Gallup
national tracking poll of likely voters has Romney ahead, 49
percent to 47 percent. Among registered voters, Obama leads, 48
percent to 46 percent; he was ahead, 50 percent to 45 percent,
among this sample group Oct. 3-9. The tracking polls have
margins of error of plus or minus two percentage points.

Economic Trust

The ABC/Post poll gave Obama a one-point lead, 48 percent
to 47 percent, on who was more trusted to handle the economy,
while Romney was ahead by eight points, 51 percent to 43
percent, on dealing with the federal deficit. Obama was ahead by
13 points, 54 percent to 41 percent, on handling Medicare.

Ryan is the author of House Republican-passed legislation
to replace Medicare, when those younger than 55 become eligible
for the program, with vouchers to buy either private insurance
or a government plan with a cap on expenditures.

Likely voters said Obama better understood the nation’s
economic problems by 51 percent to 42 percent for Romney. Fifty-two percent gave the president credit for helping move the
unemployment rate below 8 percent, and 68 percent said he would
favor the middle class while 57 percent said Romney would favor
the wealthy.

The survey of 923 likely voters had a margin of error of
3.5 percentage points.